JE ME SOUVIENS [✦] magpie, berry, lichen

[Starlingheart]

Once again it was the half moon, time for the medicine cats gathering and Starlingheart finds herself dreading it. Could she really tear herself away from her kits for so long? She could trust Halfshade to look after them, of this she is certain. But still.. what if something happened while she was gone? What is they got hurt and there was no one there to help them, to protect them. Granitepelt would be there, and in the end that was the small comfort she needed to gather up all of her strength and leave, slipping off under the cover of dusk with her apprentice in tow. Though every step she took away from them pained her.

Usually, their path to highstones was a pretty straight shot, but today Starlingheart had left early with a different goal in mind. "I wish to- to stop at fourtrees on our wuh-way" she had informed Magpiepaw. She wanted to go to the place where her aunt had buried her mother, her father, and she wanted to pray to the stars above for a moment, pay her respects in a way she hadn't been able to in a long time.

When they arrive, the clearing is quiet. A strange sight because usually when she sees this place it is full of life. The loud murmur of a large crowd all talking to each other, the warm press of bodies. It is more peaceful like this, she thinks. Snow-tipped paws are quick to bring her to the outskirts of the clearing where she quickly finds her mothers grave. With one forearm she brushes aside leaf-litter and places the flowers she had gathered earlier on top then she bows her head closes her eyes, paying her silent respects and praying for the she-cat and anyone else who might be listening to look over her Clan, her kits, to guide her to make the right choices and keep everyone safe in the moons to come.

When she is finished she swings her head around to look at Magpiepaw and offers him a warm, but sad, smile. A nod of her head indicates that it is time to go. Before they can be off though she hears a rustling in the bushes. Horrible images of the worst case scenario flood through her head, Pitchstar, Vulturemask, both dead at the claws of a rogue. Instinctively, she goes to move in front of Magpiepaw. She wasn't a particularly strong fighter but if it came down to it she wouldn't go down without a fight...

Her green eyes remain trained on the foliage, waiting for whoever was there to show themselves.

// @BERRYHEART @LICHENPAW @Magpiepaw JE
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[BERRYHEART]

Though there were many reasons to appreciate having an apprentice now, one of the aspects that Berryheart valued most of all was the company on the trek to Highstones. Freckles was certainly more talkative than he, but it was something he appreciated very much- anything that was not simply his fickle frivolities. Funnily enough, having someone there kept him from wandering wayward, even when he wanted to.

A path they had trodden once before, now- he hoped Freckles was growing familiar with the journey, as he lead his apprentice through the undergrowth. It had been near-instinctual when Berryheart himself had travelled to the Moonstone to be officially appointed as the medicine cat of ThunderClan, but he knew not whether the pull was present when it was not necessary. Awry eyes flitted to two snow-splashed shadows as he and Freckles emerged from the undergrowth, green eyes meeting green eyes.

Pebbles' face was contorted into an expression of wariness- one Berryheart returned with impenetrable flatness. "Hello," he greeted, voice pleasant and soft. He turned to look at Freckles, beckoning the tortoiseshell tom out wish a flick of a tail. "It's your friend," he said, referring to Quills, before glancing back to Pebbles and offering her a smile that was a little more tangible than usual upon his stone-face.​

PENNED BY PIN ☾​

 

[LICHENPAW ❁]

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SOMETIMES I CAN'T BELIEVE IT

Lichenpaw's paws still follow the path to the moonstone clumsily, a route not so well-trodden. They've long left behind their kithood days of wandering freely, become unaccustomed to straying to far from camp.

Luckily, he's got Berryheart to trail after. The tom's quietness doesn't bother them, Lichenpaw more than eager to chatter away for the both of them, pointing out all the little spots he recognizes on the journey in his attempt to recall the path. A bit obnoxious, perhaps, but their mentor doesn't seem to mind.

He recognizes fourtrees, of course. He knows this part of the route well enough. He knows, too, the faces that he sees in the clearing. He doesn't know the wariness that he sees on Starlingheart's face well, nor the protectiveness with which she stands before Magpiepaw. It catches him off guard for a moment.

But Berryheart's greeting comes gently, eases the wariness that rubs off on Lichenpaw. He's beckoned forward, and he takes his que readily. "Hiya!" he chirps, voice squeaking. "Magpie," he greets with a lopsided smile. Berryheart's introduction of him as friend tilts his grin towards something more genuine. He'd like to think they are — friends, that is. "Starling," more uncertain, but no less eager. Is that too casual? Saying their names like that? He likes them shorter, clan names always feel a bit too long and awkward and silly on his tongue. Still, Starlingheart outranks him, technically. "Er, Starlingheart." He corrects belatedly.

They're quick to perk back up, though. "It's good to see you both!" He casts a glance between the two, before settling on the other apprentice. "Me and you, Magpie, we've gotta - heh, gotta stick together now. Had our, er, ceremonies together and everything, I think that means we're um. Bonded now, or something." He shrugs. He doesn't really know how all this ceremonial stuff works. Magpiepaw's stuck with them now, is what they mean.

I'M MOVING PAST THE FEELING !
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.°❁ info ; visual

• //
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• LICHENPAW named for the lichen on the trees of his home.
  — he/him or they/them. 13 moons.
  — thunderclan medicine cat apprentice, mentored by berryheart.
  — bears a near-permanent nervous grin.
  
  primary character, high activity. penned by saturnid.​
• "SPEECH"
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• 

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[Magpiepaw]

He is silent alongside Starlingheart, the faintest rustle of grass as he adds his own single yellow flower he had grabbed along the way to the blooms she has already placed and when she dips her head he does as well though the meaning is lost to him at first. It takes only a moment to figure out this is a grave, it takes only a few seconds later to realize who it is for that would cause his mentor to come out this far before their trek onward to the Moonstone; her mother. Briarstar is only a whisper of a name to him, a memory he is not a part of-a time before he was even a thought or consideration; unborn even.
She is spoken of with reverance, not the way Pitchstar is remembered but with more devotion as though she were the stars themselves and he wonders what she was truly like if her son to lead next was more plague than cat. Not that he had anything bad to say about Pitchstar, his memories are mostly fond.
The black and white apprentice raises his head as he hears Starlingheart do the same and smiles back quietly, rising to stand in preparation to go when the sound of steps echo a faint warning of oncoming unknown. He stiffens in place, legs rigid and crooked tail lashing as he wonders how they might flee if needed, he is not a skilled runner by any means and the older feline stepping before him has his eyes narrowing in unease and some shame because of them both she is the more capable at defending them despite her hesitance for violence. Thankfully, there would be no bloodshed tonight among them as the ember flecked shade that was Berryheart appeared with Lichenpaw at his side.
Magpiepaw shifts from guarded unease to immediate joy, brightening and bouncing forward on unsteady steps to greet the speckled tom, "Lichenpaw!" It is said a fair bit more loudly than he intended and he dips his head politely to the other's mentor in a much more subdued manner, "And hello as well, Berryheart." Niceties done his attention snaps back to his peer, his medicine cat apprentice comrade as he speaks, wriggling in place as he stands with delight at the company, perhaps they could all walk to the Moonstone together then? At Lichenpaw's remark on them being bonded hid blue-violet eyes widen briefly and then snap closed in contemplation. Bonded would imply they would be together for as long as possible and having a friend like that with the assurance he would not be abandoned was something he liked the idea of. Eyes opening he nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, we should stick together!"
ThunderClan and ShadowClan didn't exactly have much of a relationship but he didn't care, medicine cats were above such trivial things as clan borders and alliances anyways.

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[Starlingheart]

The ferns part and immediately the tension in her bunched up muscles are lost. She lets out the breath she had been holding and for a brief moment, she turns so that she can smooth the ruffled fur on her bony shoulders. Like her apprentice, she dips her head in a formal greeting "Berryheart, Lichenpaw." she says simply. She does not fail to notice that Lichenpaw uses a shortened version of their names, but while she does not say anything she does wonder about it. She did not know much about the speckled tom, had he perhaps once been a loner? If she had to bet any prey on it she would. Loners seemed to prefer one part names over the more complicated clan names but she was rather partial to the name her mother had given her. Silently, she can't help but wonder how similar she is to the ThunderClan medicine cat, what with their shared names and all.

She, of course, says none of this out loud but instead is content to watch contemplatively as one apprentice greets the other. While they say hello she looks back at the grave she had come to visit, wondering if this meeting was pure coincidence or perhaps it was some work of the stars. Was her mother watching over her right now? She surely hopes so. Her attention snaps back to the cats in front of her when Magpiepaw suggests they should stick together. A warm smile spreads across her maw, surprised to find herself agreeing. Out of all of the current medicine cats she found she was most at ease around ThunderClans. They had both been thrust into their positions with little to no knowledge, and from what she had seen of him he was a kind-hearted tom. She decided then that she liked Berryheart. "That- that's a great idea Magpiepaw" she admonishes with a slight trill to her voice "Perhaps we could uhm - perhaps we could wuh-walk together" the path to the moonstone was one that was proving more and more perilous every day, but she felt strange asking for a guard to accompany her like the other medicine cats did. Her green eyes shift to look at Berryheart as she speaks, wondering if the flame speckled tom would agree.

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[BERRYHEART]

He too caught that Freckles did not use their full names, though Berryheart hardly cared. He made note of it and moved on, for to criticise would make him a hypocrite. Quills was greeted with a quick nod, an acknowledgement of the black-and-white tom's polite hello; Berryheart was more warmed by the sight of camaraderie between Freckles and Quills, familiar and comfortable with each other. He had a certain affection for Pebbles; the two of them had been thrust into their roles, unprepared and untrained. She had been younger than him, a mere child- but it was a similar experience. The thought that the good graces between them would extend toward their apprentices was encouraging.

Pebbles accepted Quills' idea, that they should walk together. Berryheart's ever-slight smile became a little more obvious upon his face. "That sounds pleasant," he noted, steely voice slightly spiced with a purr. Shambolic fangs clicked together thoughtfully. Mossy eyes flicked between the ShadowClan medicine cat and his apprentice. "We could meet here." Both he and Pebbles were the quieter sort, he knew that much; but she had performed an impressive feat in learning how to heal alone, and... perhaps they could help each other fill gaps in their knowledge. Interest flickered in his awry gaze. "What brought you to Fourtrees, tonight?"​

PENNED BY PIN ☾​